Stand By Me
by abutterflyinawindstorm
Summary: {au, high school to start, ambrose x oc pairing eventually} Aurora Owens gets moved to Cincinatti, Ohio where she meets Jonathan Good. Every story has a beginning, this is the beginning of their story. read and review please? (Book 1 of god knows how many.)
1. Arriving In Ohio - 1

(Chapter One)

Courage is the power to let go of the familiar.  
- Raymond Lindquist

The car pulled to a slow stop in front of a rather run down apartment building on the worst side of Cincinatti, Ohio and Aurora bit her lip as she studied her mother's face intently. Had she lost her mind? This place was in need of being torn down. In no way, shape or form was it even remotely livable.

"I see that look, Aurora. This is home now. You may as well get used to it, baby girl." her mother spoke quietly, as she studied her teenage daughter's face.

Like Aurora, she too was having her own doubts. She hadn't been back here in years. She'd sworn that when she ran away from home at 17, she'd never come back here.

And now, here she sat, in a beat up Camry, with the rain streaming down the windows. There was a chill in the air, and Aurora shifted in her seat, bundling down into her jacket, refusing to speak to her mother. Sure, it wasn't her fault, the divorce had been her father's fault to begin with, her mother finally got sick of the lies, the anger and abuse and the cheating, but Aurora felt like she was getting the worst of things currently.

"But mom… Noone here is going to like me, I know it already." Aurora said quietly as she looked to her mother, studied her face. She spoke softly, because she knew the past few days had been the worst on her mother, but she was angry inside.

She'd been forced to give up her entire existence, move halfway across the United States to live near family she hadn't ever even met just because her grandfather owned an apartment building and the rent was cheap. Not only was she nervous, she was afraid as well.

What if no one liked her?

Her mother sighed and said quietly, "Remember what I told you, Aurora. Don't be a pain. Don't make this any harder than it is already. None of us really want to do this, baby girl, but I'm trying like hell to start over and take care of both you and me."

Aurora nodded quietly, as a hard faced old man walked out of the building and said curtly, "Your apartment's ready. I'll help carry your shit in."

Her mother sighed and Aurora could tell that this was her grandfather. The very man who'd warned her mother about her father, about how she was too good for him. And her mother ignored the warnings, ran away to Louisiana to be with him, because that's where he was from originally.

Aurora wanted to say something to the man, but she kept quiet. The air was rife with tension enough as it were, already. And if she opened her mouth spouting off about how sometimes love just didn't work out and wasn't enough, and how people made mistakes, then she'd only make a bad situation worse.

The man stopped at apartment 313a and turned to her mother, handing her the key. "It's not much, Fiona. Your mother is cooking pot roast."

Aurora watched them talking, observing quietly. It hurt that her mother and her grandfather were acting more like strangers than family, but this was their business. Once he was gone down the hallway, she finally spoke.

"He doesn't like me, does he?"

Her mother sighed and said quietly, "Give him time, Aurora. Just give him time. Maybe he'll come around, and hey, if he doesn't, it's his loss, right? Now.. Let's get this stuff unpacked."

Arguing started from down the hallway, and Aurora tensed as she heard a teenage male voice say something loud and then heard a hand connecting with flesh.

"I hope this isn't going to be an every night occurance." her mother muttered as she twisted the key in the lock of their apartment, and they stepped inside. Aurora walked around, inspecting the small apartment carefully, learning it.

It wasn't much, but her father wasn't here yelling at them or hurting her mother, making her mother cry. That was all that mattered to her. She walked down the hallway, and found a closed door, quietly she pushed it open and peeked in.

"I found my room, Mom! There's more than enough room for my books in here." Aurora said quietly, as she smiled. Someone had decorated it, there were built in book cases, and it had fresh paint. Her mother walked into the room, smiled to herself softly.

So her father had at least tried to make up for his refusal to accept Aurora before she was born. Somehow, knowing this made her feel a lot better about coming home after her marriage failed.

Aurora flopped down onto the double bed and put her arms behind her head as she rested her eyes a moment. Down the hallway, the arguing continued and Aurora found herself trying to picture what the family inside that apartment looked like.

She knew there was a guy living there, probably around her own age. This made her feel a little better, because she'd been afraid that the apartment building would be full of old people, or younger couples with little kids. Noone her own age.

She stood and walked across her room, pushing open the window, smiling to herself when she realized that it had a fire escape outside of it. It wasn't very big, but she could stand outside and look at the stars, or read. She'd just stepped out onto the platform when she heard the window sliding open down from hers and a guy stepped out, holding his cheek, an angry look on his face as he lit a cigarette with shaking hands.

Jonathan Good was sick of his mother being such a slut. And when he'd come home, found her high again, with his little cousin sitting in a daze in front of the tv, he'd gotten angry. And when he'd gotten angry, he'd popped off.

And when he had, the asshole his mother worked for, her pimp took it upon himself to shove him into the entertainment center in the living room.

So Jon decided that he was going to kick the guy's ass. And when the man left furious, with their rent money, and his mother's last few drugs, his mother turned on him and slapped him for his trouble. Right now, he was beyond furious and he needed to feel the cold night air against his skin. He needed a smoke and since his baby cousin was napping, he figured he'd do it now.

Digging around, he swore as he tried to calm down because he was so god damn furious right now that his hands were trembling.

He couldn't find a lighter, so he looked around, hoping he'd left a book of matches lying around somewhere on the small fire escape.

Then he heard the window next to his sliding open quietly, heard music filtering out softly, and watched as a long legged brunette climbed out and proceeded to sprawl out on the fire escape.

Not finding a book of matches, he cleared his throat and called out. "Hey.. ya got any matches over there? Or a light?"

The girl looked up as if she were stunned and then studied him a moment before shaking her head no then saying quietly, in this soft almost silky voice, "Sorry. I-I'm not much of a smoker."

He shrugged and went back to staring at the sky again quietly. When he looked up again, the girl was gone, and the window was shut.

"Ah, she's probably a bitch anyway." he muttered quietly as he leaned back against the wall, studying the stars, wishing to himself that somehow, someday, he'd get the hell out of this god damn apartment complex and do what he really wanted to do, which was become a professional wrestler.

In her own room, Aurora lie on her bed, thinking about the boy in the apartment next to theirs. If he didn't look so damn angry, and truth be told, a little scary, physically imposing in height and fitness, he'd actually be a pretty nice looking guy.

"Wonder if I'll be in any of the same classes as him." she said to herself quietly before grabbing her book off the nightstand, and opening it up, picking up where she'd left off reading, on the trip to Ohio.

Tomorrow, she'd be starting all over again. New high school, in her junior year, at that, and nobody there she knew. Aurora was already pretty shy, so this had her nerves shot.


	2. First Day, New School

(Chapter Two)

The bus stop was crowded, and Aurora approached it as if she were walking Death Row, her gaze down as she walked past a corner that women who barely wore anything were standing on. She stared holes into her shoes, feeling uncomfortable, awkward and afraid.

The muscular dark skinned guy was the first one to approach her. "What's yo name, girl?"

She tried to avoid eye contact, and pretend she was deaf, but it didn't work. He grabbed her wrists and said "I ask you a question, girl. What's yo name?"

"It's A-aurora."

"You retarded, Aurora?"

"No." Aurora said stiffly as she glared up at him, the anger rising from within relatively quickly, and pairing with the stress she already faced. "Are you an asshole?"

The guy raised a brow at her and then said "Name's Lavont. You fine, girl."

"Go to hell, Lavont." Aurora said calmly, and quietly, as she glared at him again. She hated guys like him, they treated her like she were something to own, not an actual human with actual feelings, an actual brain of her own.

"What you say, girl?"

" I said.. Go to hell, Lavont."

"Girl, I'll cut you." Lavont said angrily as he reached into his pocket. Aurora began to back away, and as her lousy luck would have it, she backed into someone else. And the guy spoke from behind her.

"Don't ya have crack to sling elsewhere you prick bastard?" Jonathan spoke calmly, stiffly as he stood behind the petite brunette from the next apartment. Lavont glared at him, challenging him openly. "No trouble, Good. Don't want no trouble with a crazy ass white boy."

"Good. Take your ass down the sidewalk then before a repeat of last time happens, you fucking shit." Jonathan said as he turned the girl around.

"You ain't real bright." he said calmly, his voice coming out calm and sort of cold, distant. "Don't expect me to keep showin up and savin your ass. I'm not some god damn knight in armor or something. We clear?" he asked as he looked down into her bright green eyes intently, studying her.

"Crystal clear. Since you obviously don't want anything more to do with me, why don't you just do us both a favor and fuck off, then?" Aurora asked, her voice equally frosty, but her eyes taking on this slightly hurt and bitter tint to them. She grabbed her bookbag and began to walk away, and he growled in frustration at himself.

Didn't he learn a god damn thing with the last bitch he dated? The one who pretended to love him, then walked away when he shot her precious dog? That she spent over 90 percent of her time bitching about barking all night?

This girl wasn't going to be any better for him, he was almost certain of it. And he didn't have the fucking time to waste, playing savior.

He still found himself falling in behind her, tapping her shoulder impatiently.

Aurora turned around and scowled, biting her full and pink glossed lower lip as she said quietly, coldly, "You? Again? I thought we established that you wanted nothing to do with me, so you could fuck off already. Look, thank you for intervening back there. But it's obvious you hate me, why I don't know.. So I'm gonna walk to school."

"yeah.. that'd be fine with me.. If you were going the right god damn way. The school is that way. Not this way." Jonathan replied with a smirk as he looked at her, and thought a moment. "It ain't that I don't like you.. It's just that I don't like people. At all."

" I clearly saw that, moments ago, at the bus stop. Now please, just let me go. I'd really rather walk to school."

"But you're new.. How you gonna know if you even came to the right building?"

"I'm not helpless, I think I can fucking manage. Feel free to walk away now."

"You didn't tell me ya name. Mine's Jon."

"My name's Aurora." Aurora said stiffly, as she popped a bubble with her gum, her head cocked to the side slightly, as she tried to figure out this guy.

He said and acted like he hated her, yet he was trying to chat him up. It was the damndest thing she'd ever seen, really. His eyes seemed.. Stormy, for lack of a better description, and she kept getting sucked into them.

Jonathan snapped his fingers at her and then asked, "You high?"

"No."

"Stop starin at me then, damn it."

"Could you please just go away and leave me alone?" Aurora asked quietly, as she bit her nail. She didn't want to make her first enemy, but apparently, this guy hated her for no apparent reason.

"Fine. Figured you were a bitch like all the other bitches here." Jonathan said stiffly as he smirked at her, turned on his heel and slunk off down the sidewalk. He didn't have time for her shit, he had to make sure his baby cousin was okay, that his damn pill popping whore of a mother actually remembered to get her up, get her ready for school.

He picked up his niece and held her, standing quietly, waiting on the bus to come.

"Why you look so mad, Jon?" his baby cousin asked from his arms.

"This girl she sorta made me mad just now."

"Oh . I sorry." his baby cousin Jane said quietly as she looked up at him then asked, "Can ya take me to the park tonight, Jon? I wanna go on the swingsets again."

"Sure. First I gotta go to the gym. Hey, you can come with me. Watch me and color or something."

His cousin nodded excitedly, and then said "I loves watchin you fight. You look happy when you fight."

"It's cause I am, kiddo."

The bus came and they got on. And during the ride, he found himself wondering if the new girl from next door had even managed to find her own way to school.

He burst into laughter at the mental scenarios he had going on of her getting lost in downtown and winding up on the blackmarket as a sex slave or something. Once his little cousin was in her class, and he'd explained why she missed school for two days earlier in the week, he jogged over to the high school campus.

And groaned when he smacked right into her. A scowl played across his face.

Aurora didn't look all that happy, either.

"You? Again?"

"Funny. I was thinkin the same about you." Jon muttered as he looked at her and raked his hand slowly through his hair, leaned against a locker in the hallway.

"Look, about before. I'm sorry if I sounded.. Bitchy, but you were being an asshole." Aurora muttered, trying to pull her eyes from his eyes, but failing miserably by now.

"Me? An asshole? I totally saved your ass back there, sweetheart. Some fuckin gratitude would be nice." Jon said as he found himself staring at her. He coughed and then said stiffly, "Just going to go now. Probably the best thing to do." before walking off, down the hallway.

What the fuck did she honestly think? That she could pop off to some ape like Lavont and not pay the price? Jon just hoped to hell she didn't think he was going to save her ass every single time it wound up in a sling.

But he couldn't get past the continuing look of hurt in her eyes when he spoke to her like he did back there. And this made him so damn angry at himself he couldn't think straight.

He punched his locker and it sprung open, leaving a fist sized indention in the door. He scowled as he shoved his books into his worn out book bag and shuffled off to his first class of the day.

And when he sat down in the lab, and the door opened, to reveal her standing there, he growled to himself. This was just fucking great. Since his incidents with the dog, with several other students, he'd become sort of an outcast, a bully and a fucking legend.

And he as a result, had no lab partner.

So, he knew that most likely, he'd wind up being her lab partner. And this unsettled him. He was on edge enough already, from earlier. Now, it appeared they'd have to work together as well as live side by side in the apartment building, and have run ins at the bus stop.

The teacher pointed Aurora to the empty chair next to him.. She bit her lip, almost started to protest, but made her way over, slowly. Without looking up she said "And we meet again. Look, I know you're not happy about this."

"I'll fuckin deal."

"So will I."

"Good." Aurora said as she looked up at him a moment. She almost asked him why he hated her so much, but she decided against. Instead, she set to work labeling a diagram of a nucleus or whatever it was, and left him be.

Jon watched her writing, and kept quiet. He almost asked her why she hated him, why she was such a damn bitch when he'd probably saved her fucking life back at the bus stop, but instead, he didn't.

The less they talked, the better off they'd both be.

But he couldn't stop just watching her. And this drove him crazy. The second the bell rang, he grabbed his books and bolted for the door.

Aurora watched him, biting her lip. So far, her first day of school here in Ohio was going nothing like she planned. And she was angry with herself because she wondered why it mattered so damn much that he was getting to her as he was.

Why she couldn't just write him off as an asshole, which he apparently was.


	3. First Day Continued

(Chapter Two, Part Two)

Aurora sat in the gym, later on that day, watching everyone around her. She knew that Jonathan had this class too, and she naturally tried her best to stay out of his way, since earlier in the day, but watching him run up and down the basketball court, she couldn't help but do.

There was just something there.

The girl sitting next to her were whispering, and what they said caught her attention. She listened quietly and intently as she heard them talking about how bad a guy he was, how he'd shot some girls dog, how his mother was a prostitute and how he was just a mean person in general.

Somehow, she didn't disbelieve anything they said, but she still couldn't help but wonder if that was all there was to him. Surely, he had good in him.

She leaned back against the bleacher behind her, and a girl tapped her and said "If I were you, I wouldn't even consider it. Not with Jonathan Good. He's not a nice guy."

The other girls nodded and then one said "But then again, you come from that side of town, so you're probably just his type."

Aurora bit her lip to try and keep her calm, and shrugged off the girls remark. So apparently, she wasn't going to fit in any better here, than she had at her last school. This hurt, but she was practically used to it by now. Back there, it'd been because her father was a hardass lawyer, and he'd helped put away a lot of people. A lot of important people.

And this hadn't sat well with the small Louisiana town she'd grown up in.

The girl continued, a mock sweet voice as she said "What's the matter? The truth hurt you?"

Aurora finally couldn't take it, so she turned around and replied calmly, "For one thing. You don't fucking know me. And another? I'm betting my life on the fact that while you jealous bitches are stuck here, the trash like me, or that guy you're all bent on tearing down, will be out of here, and so fucking famous that it'll show you exactly how wrong you all were. I hate people like you."

"And we don't like your type, either." the blonde, a popular girl in the senior class named Cadence said calmly as she smirked and added, "And the day a piece of pathetic little trash like you or that bum piece of shit Jonathan makes it big? That'll be the day hell freezes over."

The other girl leaned in quietly and said in a soft wavering voice, "Y-you really shouldn't have done that just now. Cadence will… She'll ruin you."

"And I give two shits because?" Aurora asked as she managed a brave smirk. From an early age, she'd learnt never give someone else the satisfaction of knowing when they hurt you. Her own father showed her that over and over.

Noone could be trusted. Because at any given moment, anyone could betray you.

The teenage romantic in Aurora always hoped she'd be wrong, that she'd find that one person who didn't hurt her all the damn time, but the hardened cynic in her knew better. The cynic in her knew that nine times out of ten, there would always be pain in your life.

And she was learning to be okay with it.

"You really should." The other girl muttered as she managed a smile and said "My name's Melanie."

"Mine's Aurora. Why's everyone talk about him like they do?"

"because he's fucking creepy." Melanie answered quickly as she asked, "Why are you starin at him?"

"Because something tells me there is more to that guy than you all believe."

"Sadly, you're gonna be wrong." Melanie intoned as she looked at her and then said "Those girls.. They don't like me all that much either."

"Fuck those bitches."

"You really don't care about nothing, do you?" Melanie asked as she eyed the new girl in wonder.

"Not about small minded bitches like them. When I'm out living my life, they'll be home with four and five kids runnin around, all by different daddies. That's usually what happens to girls like that. They think they're better, that they're above it all, and that's when they fuck up worst."

" I never thought about it like that." Melanie said quietly as she looked at Aurora and then paused a moment before adding, "But Jonathan's not a nice guy. Just a warning."

"Thanks, Melanie. But I'll make up my mind about him on my own. Although I already pretty much agree with you. He's an asshole. I had a few run ins with him today, actually. None of them were pleasant."

"H-he talked to ya?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"He really doesn't talk to many people. Unless he's making them feel like shit."

"I gathered that." Aurora said quietly, as she resumed her staring at him, now beyond interested. What'd made him talk to her in the first place, if he didn't normally go out of his way to talk to others?

This was bugging her. He was like a thorn in her side, yet she didn't want to get rid of him. And she'd only been here for two days so her best course of action would be to avoid him any way possible.

Because she just wasn't sure about him in all honesty.

Jon sat down on the bleachers, exhausted from a game of one on one he'd just played. The guy sitting next to him said "New girl's smokin hot."

"She's a fucking bitch is what she is." Jon muttered stiffly, as he toweled down his hair and got the sweat out.

The guy continued and said " She wasn't a bitch to me in my English class. We talked a lot, man."

"Whatever. Look, she's a bitch in my book, nothing's gonna change it. Clear?" Jon asked, his voice coming out in a menacing tone.

"I think you like her, Good."

"I think you need to fuck off. I don't like or need anybody. Got it? Least of all not a bitch like that." Jon said quickly, defensively as he looked over at the girls side of the gym, glaring at, but watching her intently. He couldn't seem to not do this, and frankly, this was another thing that pissed him off.

Bitches were trouble. Bitches got you nowhere except hurt.

At least that'd been his own personal experience with women.

The bell rang and he shoved out of the gym, and blended in with the crowd. Once he was out of the school, he quickly found his little cousin and they walked to the gym, Jane chattering most of the way there, Jon trying to listen and not have his mind on the new bitch.

But it wasn't working. And he only got madder when he caught sight of her walking up the sidewalk and saw Lavont approaching her. He watched the situation carefully, and when some other person walked over, told Lavont to get a move on, he walked briskly into the gym he went to to train in afer school most afternoons.

A few good rounds with the sparring coach was exactly what he needed. He had a lot of pent up frustration to let out.


	4. First Day, Conclusion

(Chapter Two, Part Three)

Aurora heard that the gym here in Ohio offered dance classes, and missing her old one, she loved dancing, she found herself drawn to the old brick building, and going inside before she even realized what she was doing. She signed in and walked into the empty dance studio, plugging her MP3 player into some speakers that sat on a table near the door.

After a few stretches, she began to dance, as the classic rock filtered out the open doorway and down the hallway, where Jon was training with his 'coach'. Hearing the music, he growled, swore a little.

"The fuck is that shit, even?" the teen asked his coach who shrugged and said "Light's on in the dance studio. Maybe somebody's usin it. Focus, kid."

"I can't with that shit playing so god damn loud." Jon muttered as he stopped to rest, grabbing his bottled water, storming down the hallway, intent on telling whatever preppy bitch who happened to be in the studio that their shit taste in music was throwing off his concentration.

Instead, he got to the doorway, and all he could do was watch the leggy brunette that'd made his entire day a living hell as she twisted and turned, twirled gracefully. His hand reached out, unplugged the mp3 player. Her movements came to an abrupt halt, as she looked at him, scowling.

"The fuck is your problem?" she asked, as she started to walk towards him.

"The fuck is yours? That shit.. It's throwing off my fucking concentration." Jon said as he glared, his hand on his hip his other hand in his hair.

"Fuck your god damn concentration you arrogant bastard. Ya know, there are more people in this world than Jonathan Good." Aurora said calmly, through gritted teeth.

"Yeah? Well this, whatever the fuck it was that you were doing is just a hobby. What I'm down there doin? My ticket out of this hell hole."

"Oh really? You think so?" Aurora asked, a hint of a smirk on her face as she found herself moving closer to him, before finishing, "And this.. Is not just a hobby. I wanna be a dancer."

"Is that so? Well ya need to keep on with lessons, because babe? You fuckin suck."

"And I'm sure whatever the hell it is you were doing before you came down here, just to be a fucking dick was so much better?" Aurora asked, moving in a little closer.

Their chests brushed and he stared down into her eyes, angrily.

"I don't fuckin get you."

"And I could care less, Jon."

He stepped back a little, looking at her body in the dancing outfit she wore, the way her hair was half up and half down, her cheeks were flushed with the workout she'd just been putting herself through.

" Put some god damn clothes on, for Christ's sake." he growled at her as he turned to walk out, only to hear her call out from behind, " Fucking asshole!"

He smirked to himself a little, as he shut the door, walked back down the hall, finding his little cousin had been standing there, had heard the whole argument.

"She was doin' ballet, Jon. She was good, too. I wanna dance like that."

"No the hell you don't, Jane. Let's go back to the gym, 'kay?" Jon said quietly as he bent, picked her up, carrying her back down the hallway, not even realizing that Aurora stood in the doorway, watching him, completely perplexed now.

And here she'd thought he was a complete and total asshole. Yet seeing him with the little girl, almost made her rethink every bad thing she'd heard and experienced where he was concerned all day.

"I can teach her." she called out from the hallway, watching as he stopped, turned to look at her, then at his little cousin Jane. "I dunno.. I mean, I don't just leave her with anybody."

Jane begged him with her eyes and he growled to himself, swearing a little, taking her back up the hall, telling her stiffly, "When I come back for ya, Jane, we gotta get outta here, got it?"

Jane nodded quietly, then smiled at the girl standing in the doorway, saying quietly, "Thank ya." as she followed Aurora into the dance studio and Aurora shut the door.

Jon stood there, his hand in his sweat dampened hair, studying the doorway, his brow raised, biting his lip. What the fuck just happened here? Had she actually done something nice?

And here, he'd thought she was a heartless stuck up bitch like every other chick he'd ever encountered. And she'd went and done this.

He sparred for about another hour, and then he made his way down the hallway, and leaned in the doorway, watching Jane laughing, being happy, being a normal kid, not so damn shy and afraid. He smirked a little and then cleared his throat, made his face emotionless.

"We gotta go, Jane." he said as Jane ran to him and said "Rory say she think I can dance better than the little girls she used to teach where she came from!"

"She is really good. Quick learner. It took me a year to learn what I'm teaching her." Aurora said quietly, as she studied him, noticing for the first time the way his muscles stood out, the confident smirk, the stormy blue of his eyes.

She bit her lip and then said "And it was nice to have somebody to talk to." as Jane looked from her cousin to the girl she'd been learning how to dance from all afternoon. She smiled a little and then said "We go home now. I tired."

Jon chuckled and said "I bet, kiddo. Yeah, let's shove off. I, umm, yeah.. Thanks, Aurora."

"Not a problem. She shouldn't have to suffer because you're a jerk." Aurora said quietly, as she gathered her things, slipped on her pull on boots, and her jacket.

"You're not puttin street clothes back on?" Jon asked stiffly, eyeing her body, how little was hidden right now, feeling this sudden urge to kill anything that might look at her, then feeling anger at himself for even feeling that.

"No, why? Relax, Jonathan. I got a knife in my boot. My mom gave it to me, said I better use it, if I was out after dark here and someone tried something with me."

"Nope. You're walkin back with me."

"No. I'm fine. You should get Jane home, it's cold out. Besides, we don't really get along that well. And you hate me, so why bother?"

" I don't hate ya. Ya just piss me off."

Aurora shrugged and stepped past him, her bag slung over her shoulders, slinking down the hallway. Jon bit his lip and Jane giggled then said " She not mean, Jon."

"Maybe not to you, but she hates me."

"Uh uh. She just don't understand ya. She told me."

"So, what else did you two talk about?" Jon asked, mostly out of curiousity, mostly out of amusement. In his mind, he'd already written off Aurora as a stuck up airhead bitch who just happened to like kids, or maybe didn't trust Jon with his own damn cousin.

"She tell me she sad, cause she miss Louisiana, and she can't wait to graduate, go to California. She say her daddy scart her sometimes too."

Jon listened to his cousin telling him what they'd talk about, getting a little more curious about Aurora. Also wondering if he'd been wrong to write her off like he had.

"She listen to funny music."

Jon chuckled and they walked into his mom's apartment. He groaned when he realized that she'd bought 'work' home once again. He got his cousin ready for bed, then snuck out to the fire escape, his refuge from his mother and her lifestyle.

A few moments later the window on Aurora's fire escape slid open, and Aurora stepped out with a book, a pillow and a blanket. The music filtered out behind her softly, and Jon hid a smirk.

"You crazy?"

"Nosy much?" she asked stiffly as she settled against the white bricked wall, opened her book, started to read, paying him no mind. If she let him know how much he got to her in the small space of time she'd known him, then he'd use it against her. Men did that. All the time.

They only knew how to hurt someone, she'd learnt this best from her own father, hearing her mother cry herself to sleep every single night before her mother finally left him.

"Just wondering because it ain't safe out here at night."

" Everyone's gotta die sometime, Jonathan."

"Stop callin me that. Call me Jon. Jonathan fuckin annoys me."

"It's your name, is it not?"

"But I prefer Jon."

"Jon sounds like something I'd call you if you were my friend. You've made it quite obvious you do not want to be my friend and that I annoy the hell out of you. "

"Aurora, look.. About that.. I'd apologize, but the truth is? I'm kinda an asshole."

"And?"

He sighed, stubbed out his cigarette and watched her reading, twisting her hair around her fingertips, her eyes darting over the page. "And, I don't want ya thinkin' I'm ever gonna be a nice guy. But I don't hate ya, either. And we're gonna be livin next door to one another.. We should at least try and be civil, somethin."

"True. Okay, truce." Aurora said cautiously, as she stood, moved slowly to the edge of the fire escape, sitting on the rail, her hand out.

Jon smirked and shook the hand he'd been offered before saying swiftly, "Now get back on the platform before ya fall, crack ya skull."

"But Jon, I'm a dancer. We always land on our feet. Besides, you sayin that.. Leads me to believe you'd miss our bizarre confrontations."

"Hell no. Just didn't think you'd wanna fall to ya death." Jon said quickly as he looked at her, smirking.

Her mother called her name, and she sighed quietly, "I'll see you at school tomorrow. We can redo the entire day?"

"Fine by me, Rory."

"Don't call me that. My god damn name is Aurora."

He smirked, winking a little as he watched her gracefully slip off the rail of the fire escape, answer her mom, 'Comin' mama', and disappear through the window.

And sat outside by himself for a while, now officially confused. Had he just made a friend, or was she just being tolerant? With her, he couldn't tell.

"


	5. When It All Comes Crashing Down - 1

(Chapter Three, Pt One)

The alarm going off had Aurora feeling around on her nightstand, knocking it to the floor, eventually. She heard more yelling from next door, and tensed as she heard Jonathan say something, then heard what sounded like something being thrown or someone hitting him.

She scowled at herself, the day before springing back to mind. She shouldn't give a damn, but she just.. It hurt knowing she lived right next door to a situation like one she and her own mother just escaped from. And the guy bought out tendencies in her, that in the week or two she'd lived here in Ohio now, she'd tried her level best to ignore.

She sighed as she heard him yelling and then slamming the door to his mother's apartment. Quickly, she dressed and grabbed two chocolate chip muffins, and two orange juices from the refridgerator. Her mother smiled at her and then asked, "In a hurry, Rora?"

"Kind of, mama. I promised a friend I'd meet 'em before school." Aurora said as she grabbed her bookbag, slid her feet into the flats and grabbed her pea coat, her beret and scarf, then took off down the hallway. She found him about halfway down the hall, muttering angrily to himself as he held his face.

Tapping his shoulder, she waited on him to turn around. When he did, he scowled. "You?"

"What?"

Jon shrugged and then said quietly, "What do ya want?"

"I sort of heard the arguing.. And I.."

"Stop listenin through the god damn walls." Jon raved as he looked at her, his temper flaring, feeling embarassed at her having heard him taking a hit. Feeling out of control of things, feeling vulnerable, not liking it, one bit.

"Be an asshole then." Aurora said as she bit her lip, shoved past him, intending to walk out, get away from him. All she'd been trying to do was make good on their truce, but apparently, Jonathan Good wasn't having any of that. He didn't want people to like him, he didn't want people to see that he was human.

And she didn't want him to keep lashing out at her, because it hurt, because she DID see these things in him, regardless to whether he did or not.

Jon sighed and then growled at himself, caught up to her, grabbed her wrist carefully. "Hey, wait up, would ya?"

Aurora stopped in her tracks and then said calmly, stiffly, "Go away, Jonathan. I'm done. Next time you say truce, I know it really means don't notice me, I won't notice you."

"Aurora."

"Jonathan. Just stop it. I get it now. You don't want or need anyone in your life." Aurora said as she held out the muffin and orange juice adding, "I grabbed these for you before I left.."

He took them from her hands, watching her in stunned silence as she sighed, rolled her eyes and walked out of the lobby of their apartment building, and blended in the crowd at the bus stop. He groaned as he raked his hand through his hair and muttered stiffly, "I don't fucking get her."

Jane giggled as she tugged on her older cousin's pants and said quietly, "I think she like ya."

"No she doesn't."

"She bringed you chocolate. And orange juice." Jane pointed out as she hugged her cousin when he picked her up. The man in the suit stepped out and said "We're with welfare. We came to take Jane with us. Someone's reported your mother."

Jon groaned, and growled, swearing, swinging at the man. In the end, he could do nothing, because they had at least 8 complaints from tenants in the building. The man finally said in a stiff and calm tone, "You can see her, until we find her a home."

Jon glared as he spat at the man and shoved through the crowd after stopping to say, "What? I hope you're all fuckin happy now. I coulda taken care of her, god damn it."

He found himself standing at the bus stop, arms crossed, biting his lip to try and keep from crying in anger.

Aurora watched the man carrying out Jonathan's cousin and she bit her cheek, sighed, and turned back to scan the crowd, see if he were okay. She could see his eyes, the way he looked like he was trying his best not to fall apart, but she kept to herself this time.

He didn't want or need her help, her friendship, her belief in him that he was a good guy, despite what everyone else said about him.

Yet his eyes were just so cold right now. And in some ways, sad, haunting. She wanted with everything in her to go to him at least try to comfort him, but she didn't dare. Not after how earlier this morning worked out for her.

Instead, she climbed the steps to the bus and sat in the back quietly, reading her book, trying not to cry herself, because she'd gotten to know the little girl over the course of a week or two and she enjoyed having her in the studio with her when she danced.

Once they were at school, Aurora found her way into the building quickly, and stood in front of her locker, composing herself.

Jonathan found a quiet empty room and then he let himself go into the rage he'd been feeling. And when he was done, he stepped out, just in time to catch Aurora coming out of the girls restroom, shoving a piece of tissue into her pocket, eyes a little red.

He growled at himself for being concerned, but wound up tapping her shoulder and getting her off to herself quietly.

"I'm gonna miss her." Aurora said quietly, as she looked up at Jonathan and asked, "But you.. you were with her all the time.. You okay?"

"Just reminded me how fucked my life is, why I need to get the hell out of this hell hole. I'll be fucking fine." Jon lied, as he looked at her then said in a quieter tone, "About this morning.. I didn't mean to.."

"Jonathan, just stop. I'm getting it now. I'll stop trying." Aurora said quietly as she leaned against a wall then said without looking at him, "It's just.. I hear it all the time, and god help me, I worry. I have no idea why, but I worry about you."

She turned on her heel and walked away, leaving him to stand there shocked. For the first time in his life, he didn't get a chance to come up with something to say to make things even worse, and even if he had been able to, he'd have been speechless.

He puzzled over it and when time came for Biology, he watched for her to come in, but she didn't. After class, he went looking for her, found her at her locker getting her books.

"What the hell happened to ya?"

"I got all my classes switched. Now you won't have to see me as much. So you won't have to pretend to be civil." Aurora said quietly as she grabbed her English book and walked past him. To be honest, she was distancing herself because this morning she realized that her feelings for him, even when he continuiously treated her like crap were sort of pathetic, and she wasn't about to become that girl.

She was going to have some class and give up now, before he got to her so much she couldn't.

Jon stood in the hallway, frozen, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. She'd agreed to the truce, and he'd been handling it the only way he knew how, by staying out of her way so they wouldn't fight. But right now, it just felt..

He felt angry and upset from earlier, and confused, and he didn't like this, not one bit. He hated not being able to figure her out. He hated the instability, not being in control of himself for once.

Everything was crashing down around him, he just wanted one damn thing he could be sure of, and it looked like that wasn't happening any time soon.


	6. When It All Comes Crashing Down - 2

(Chapter Three, Pt Two)

She'd just stepped onto the sidewalk when she heard Lavont swearing, and heard Jonathan swearing back. As she rounded the corner, she watched the fight with wide eyes. Apparently, Lavont had help, and was now working Jonathan over really well. She flattened out of sight against the brick wall and when the fight ended, she raced around the corner and sat down beside him on the sidewalk.

Jon sat halfway up, coughing and swearing, vowing revenge. Aurora sighed and said "First you need that cut cleaned out."

"What the fuck do you even care? Go on. Get lost." Jon swore as he glared, coughed. Aurora shrugged and said calmly, "Didn't say I did. Just not going to let you lie here and bleed out from the side of your head either. Now shut the fuck up and come on. My mama's at work, but she's got a first aid kit."

Jon belligerently resisted, and Aurora looked at him and said "Know what? I'm done. Just lie here and bleed to death you fuckin jerk." as she stormed off.

A woman stopped her halfway down the sidewalk and she asked stiffly, "What is it?"

"That kid... he's my son.. And he's not always like that." Jon's mother said quietly as Aurora studied her with a stern facial expression, her hand on her hip, the other hand in her thick dark hair.

"Yeah, I know. But he won't see it. And I'm not gonna stick around and keep takin the shit." Aurora said quietly as she looked at Jonathan's mother a moment, then softened her voice as she explained, "Sorry.. It's just.. My mama.. She lived through all that, I grew up like that."

His mother nodded and then asked, "And you don't wanna wind up getting hurt."

"Exactly. I try to be his friend, he shoves me away. So I'm just gonna leave him alone." Aurora said quietly, as she added as an afterthought, "Even though it'll kill me, cause he's kinda getting to me. And I never.. Nevermind."

She sighed and looked towards the gym, maybe if she danced for a while, she'd be over it. She just needed to clear her mind, and get him off it. He didn't even want her befriending him, much less what she suspected that'd already happened as far as she was concerned.

"If ya love somethin', kid.. Ya fight for it." Jon's mother said quietly, as she studied the teenage girl, then said "He's not this badass he paints himself to be. And he gets hurt, same as you and me. I'm tellin ya this because I know he won't ever tell ya. And now that Jane's gone, he ain't really got too many people that'll actually have anything to do with him."

"Because he pushes them all away, or purposely scares people, Ms. Good."

"Because he's afraid."

"I'm afraid, but even my walls aren't that high. But I'll try and remember what you told me just now." Aurora muttered as she took a deep breath, walked down the sidewalk and into the gym. The second her music was on, she shut the door, went into her own little fantasy world.

And she tried her best NOT to think of the conversation with his mother, or how badly it hurt her to have had to watch everything that'd happened to him during the space of a few hours.

She'd just finished dancing, and whirling around one last time, she wound up smacking straight into his chest, as he stood there, in the doorway, arms crossed, watching her intently.

"Came here because I remembered how happy Jane was in here with ya. And I don't wanna go back to the apartment." Jon said flatly, as he stared down at his shoes.

"O-okay then." Aurora said quietly as she stretched and tried to ignore the way he kept eyeing her, tried not to blush under the weight of his stare.

"About earlier."

"Save it, Jonathan. I'm a big girl, I'll live." Aurora said as she stood, did a few twists and turns, extending one leg almost over her head in the air.

"Don't all that shit hurt ya?"

"No."

"I can go if.."

"Just stay. Don't talk, don't try and pretend to keep honoring this truce. I don't expect you to." Aurora said through gritted teeth as she did an assisted ponche roll and Jon watched her, his hands in his hair.

"I fight. That's why I'm always here."

"Somehow? I'm not surprised." Aurora said as she stopped, sprawled on her stomach on the floor, looked at him, her chin propped on her hands.

"I'm never gonna see her again, am I?" he asked quietly, as Aurora shrugged, and then moved closer, sitting in front of him, studying him intently.

"You might, Jonathan. If you want, I can help you try and get her back.. Something. Because I miss her being here too. I mean she kept me amused, kept my mind off things.."

"Yeah.. I heard you and my ma talkin earlier, on the sidewalk. Surprised me, cause she normally just ignores me, or hits me, lets the bastards she brings home do whatever."

Aurora leaned in, taking her towel off the bench behind him, dabbing some water on it as she quietly started to clean away the dried blood on his face, wincing as she did so. " And now who's listening at god damn walls?" she asked calmly, her voice stiff, the pain in her eyes obvious.

"Yeah, I deserved that."

"Totally. Lean in just a little.." Aurora instructed as she licked her lower lip, kept cleaning out the cuts on his face. "Shit.. this one on the side, by your eye.. It's split in two.. You need a doctor, Jonathan." she said quietly, her tone calm yet worried all the same.

"I'll be fine."

"It needs to be closed or it'll get infected and half your fuckin face will rot off." Aurora insisted stubbornly as his hands closed over her hands, engulfing them completely. "Aurora. I'll be fine. Just stop. I'm not worth worryin over."

She didn't move her hands, but she did lean in and ask quietly, "Why do you keep saying that?"

"Because it's true."

"It's not true, and the fact that you think it is, is severly fucked up, Jonathan." Aurora said quietly as she moved just a little bit closer to him, warily, to make sure there wasn't any gravel or glass stuck in any of the cuts on his face.

"I'm not normal, babe."

"Jonathan, stop it."

"Just tellin you the truth now. I'm never gonna be some good guy."

"You know what? Maybe I don't fucking want you to be some good guy. Maybe people, myself, mainly, have no problem with you the way you are. Besides, it's not like it matters."

"It does."

Aurora sighed and rolled her eyes in mild annoyance, then stood and said "I'm going home now. Wanna walk with me?"

"You askin me, or is this just because you think I'm gonna do somethin stupid and go after Lavont's ass?"

" Jonathan, I'm asking because it's dark and I don't like walking by myself, if you want to think about it that way." Aurora said as Jonathan nodded, and waiting in the doorway hesitantly asked, "So.. we okay?"

"Sure." Aurora said quietly as she pulled on her coat, refixed the messy bun her hair had been wound up in.

They walked quietly down the sidewalk, and she sat on her fire escape talking to him while he sat on his, trying to calm down. Today had been hell, but maybe they'd found someone to confide in, if their worlds came crashing down.


	7. The Start Of Something, Maybe - 1

(Chapter Three, Pt Three)

He stood watching her, calm now, he'd just had an intense sparring session and now, he was just standing there, watching Aurora dance. Today, there was an instructor in the studio with her, and they were doing some complicated lift. He snickered as Aurora ran, but the teacher staggered back.

"It's cause you're a girl." he stated as he stepped into the room. They hadn't really seen much of each other since a few nights ago when his world basically exploded on him in the space of a day, but he had been watching her, sort of thinking about her. And while it irritated him beyond all reason, it also helped him learn a lot more about her. Because she damn sure wasn't sharing any personal information.

The teacher raised her brow, then smirked and said "Oh really? And you think you can just catch her?"

"Basically, yeah." Jon said with a smirk as he looked at Aurora, enjoyed for the moment the redness that crept into her tan, making her turn a sort of pink all over as she stood there, torn between glaring and slightly smirking at him. "Do ya mind if I?"

"By all means, Jonathan." Aurora said stiffly, as she gave him a raised brow, and got ready to do the lift. Jonathan held up a finger, then shut the door. "Don't want anyone seein me, thinkin' I'm a pussy or some shit." he muttered as Aurora studied him intently, then asking calmly, "You ready now, Mr. Machismo?"

"Don't tempt me to drop ya, Rory." Jon said with a slightly seductive smirk as he waited, then caught her, lifting her easily, then dipping her, as he whispered quietly, "Bet those other fancy ass dancer boys ya hang out with at school can't do it like that." before sitting her on her feet again, turning and walking out of the room, without another word to either female.

"Do you know him well?" the dance instructor asked, as she looked at Aurora. Aurora shrugged and then biting her lip, as she stared at the doorway he'd walked out of, she said quietly, "I have no idea, to be honest. His name's Jonathan."

"I'm aware of that. He's a big troublemaker, not a good guy. Shot his ex girlfriend's dog. I knew her, she was a student of mine."

Aurora turned on her heel and then said quietly, "I've heard that. But, I was raised to believe there's more than one side to every coin. "

The teacher shrugged and then said "You'd be wise to stay away from him. Boys like that, especially here, they never amount to much."

Aurora sighed, dropping the subject, shoving her feet into her boots, and grabbing her bag, following him out of the building stealthily.

Jon turned a corner, and felt a tap to his left shoulder. He smirked to himself, then turned around, to find her, standing there in front of him with a confused look on her face.

"Why'd you do that?"

"Because ya were gettin on my nerves, thought if I saw ya, I'd stop thinkin about ya all the god damn time. Because I hate it." Jon said as he stopped, lit a cigarette.

"You're never gonna keep stamina if you keep smokin." Aurora stated calmly, as she sipped a green tea, and raked her hand through her hair, biting her lip.

"Can't quit." Jon said stiffly, as he looked at her, then said quietly, "Ya not that bad at dancing. I mean, it's dancing."

"Gee, thanks." Aurora said dryly as she shivered, wishing she'd grabbed some clothes to put on when she finished her lesson, or a thicker jacket at least. "I'm never gonna get used to these damn cold winters. Thank god I'm only gonna be here until graduation. Then it's California bound."

" At least that's what ya say now." Jon corrected her, as he leaned against the brick wall of the apartment building. Aurora shrugged and then said "Nope. I'm pretty sure I'm goin. Just ready to start my life."

"Same here. I wanna be a professional wrestler."

"Like sumo or something?" Aurora asked, wrinkling her nose, giggling at the mental image as Jon shook his head and said quietly, "Nope. As in fightin. Brawler."

"Never seen that."

"I figured as much." Jon said as he smirked at her, his eyes flickering slowly over her tiny and softly curved frame.

"Stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?" Jon asked, smirking in amusement.

"Like... I can't explain it." Aurora said as she bit her lip, a little nervous suddenly, as she found herself shifting closer to him, feeling the warmth that radiated off him. "It's fuckin cold out here."

"If ya would wear more god damn clothing, then ya wouldn't fuckin freeze." Jon said as he moved a little blocking the wind. Aurora looked up at the stars, then sighed and asked, "You seen Jane?"

"Not yet."

"I miss her."

"Me too." Jon said as he looked at her a moment. Taking a breath, he said quietly, "She's gone. I could give two shits about anything else now.. I could have protected her, they wouldn't fuckin let me."

Aurora bit her lip, put her hand on his chest and said "Jonathan, it's okay.. You can be upset."

"I'm not a pussy. Pussies show their feelings and shit."

"She was your little cousin."

"I know. But I don't" he started, but stopped talking, noticing that Aurora stiffened, practically tried to disappear. "You okay?"

"What the fuck is my dad doin here?" Aurora muttered, her voice going low, getting a scared tone to it as she looked at Jonathan and said quietly, "I gotta... I gotta go in now. I'll see you around. If he catches me talkin to a boy,..."

She took off up the fire escape as if wild dogs were chasing her, leaving Jon standing there, puzzled over the whole conversation, wondering what her old man did to make her that afraid.

He didn't have to wonder long, because as soon as he got into his room, the fighting in her mom's apartment was at a fever pitch. And he lie there, awake, worried, then pissed at himself because he was worried about her.

Finally, he stepped out onto his fire escape, then threw a soda can at hers. Moments later, the window opened, and she climbed out, pale, scared.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine, damn it, Jonathan. Just don't worry." Aurora said bravely, as she winced, her father hitting her mother echoing off the walls.

"Doesn't sound fine, Rory." Jon said as he looked at her calmly, a smirk in place.

"Catch me. I'm comin over." Aurora muttered as she managed to make her way across the fire escapes, even with Jon swearing at her, telling her not to fall.

"So... your dad.."

"Is an asshole. And now, he's going to fight my mama for custody of me. It shouldn't matter, but he's a lawyer back in Louisiana, he's got friends in high places.. And I'll die before I go back there." Aurora stated flatly as she looked up at Jon.

"I can hide ya. If you have to hide."

"No. I'm not draggin you into this. I mean it, Jonathan, stay out. My dad... He's a bastard."

"Your grandpa owns the building. Why ain't he helpin your ma?"

"Because he was against my mama leavin with my daddy in the first place. And he never got over it." Aurora said quietly, as she leaned against the rail, looking out into the alley below. Jon walked up behind her, and then said quietly, "It's okay.. "

"No, Jonathan, it's not. I... I was so happy to get away from him.."

"Ya not going back."

Aurora bit her lip as she turned, looked at him and then asked, "Why are you being so nice to me right now? I've been a bitch to you."

"No, you tried to be nice.. I'm just not.. I'm fucked up, Rory, broken."

Aurora shook her head and then said quietly, as she put her hand to his chest and held it there, "As long as your heart's still beating, you're not broken. You're just difficult to understand. You're afraid to care. And I get it, I really do."

"Trust me, Rory. I ain't a good person."

"Jonathan, stop saying that."

"It's the truth, damn it."

Aurora looked up at him and then shaking her head, she put her arms around him cautiously, hugging him. "If you were as big of an asshole as you claim to be, Jonathan Good, you wouldn't have thrown the can just now, gotten me out of there. Think about it."

She placed a shy kiss on his cheek, then made herself hurry back to her fire escape, and into her room. The last thing she needed to have was her father coming inot her room and finding her outside, with a boy.

Because she had no doubt in her mind that her father would find some way to hurt Jonathan, and she didn't want that happening.

Once again, Jon stood there quietly, totally bewildered by what'd just happened. Then he finally went inside. He knew that he'd spend all night lying awake, but he also knew that if Aurora had to leave, then he was never letting anyone penetrate his defenses ever again.

Because she had, and though he didn't tell her this, he didn't tell her how he felt, he hated thinking that she might be gone.


	8. The Start Of Something, Maybe - 2

(Chapter Three, Pt Four)

Aurora glared at her father over her cereal bowl as he said sternly, "You will not backtalk me. You will get your shit packed and you will get in that truck and go back with me."

"The hell I will." Aurora said. Before she even got a chance to duck, his hand connected with her cheek. "Get your ass in that bedroom, pack your shit, now."

"I'm not going anywhere, Daddy." Aurora said defiantly, as she held her cheek, bit her lip nervously.

"Your grandpa told me about that damn boy next door and if he's the reason you're being a mouthy little brat? I'm gonna snap his neck and let you watch. Now. Get your shit together." her father said stiffly as he glared at her.

"Fuck you, bastard." Aurora said. And then she knew she'd really done it, because she wound up on the floor instead of just getting hit. She felt the blood pouring from her nose, and she grimaced in pain. Had he actually broken her nose? And why was she fighting this so damn hard?

She had no friends here, except Melanie. There was nothing really tying her to Ohio.. But the thought of leaving had her up in arms, and she was frustrated, angry at her father, and a little more than a little bit afraid.

She stormed out of the house, forgetting it was dark, forgetting this was not her small town in Louisiana, and down the sidewalk, swearing and crying. The tap to her shoulder had her turning around. "What?"

Jon shuffled his feet and then said "You insane?"

"Don't. I'm not in a really good mood right now, and I'm not gonna turn around, Jon. It's for the best." Aurora said quietly. Instead, she felt his hands grip her wrist, and she was turned around. She quickly tried to hide her face, but it was too late. He'd seen what her father did and judging by the look on his face, he wasn't happy.

"That piece of shit."

"Jon.. Don't go back there. It's only gonna make things worse. He's gonna make me leave. I'm gonna have to go back."

"The hell you will." Jon said angrily, as he grabbed her wrists, practically drug her back down the alley towards the apartment building. She tried to fight him, get away from him, knowing that nothing good was coming of this, but he didn't budge. His grip was firm and he spoke calmly, stiffly.

"Ya honestly think I'm gonna let that bastard take ya off, when he did that to ya face?"

"Jon.. This is not your business. Besides, you don't really even like me, not even as a friend, so.."

Jon stopped and held her against the brick wall, just stared at her a moment. "That might be true, but I ain't gonna let him get away with hittin ya either, Rory."

"My god damn name is Aurora."

"It's Rory if I fuckin call ya Rory. Now shut it, come on. I'm gonna teach that bastard somethin about hittin girls. Even I'm not fucked enough in the head to do something like that."

"Jonathan, please don't get in this. You don't know me, this is not worth the hassle."

"Yeah, it is. Look, just shut it, let me think." Jon said as he paced the alley, frantically, muttering to himself, lost in thought. He could take her, haul ass out of Ohio for a while, but she was right. They barely knew one another, why was he even worrying about her, about this?

They were always fighting, and every step forward they took, they wound up at least four back.

He stopped pacing and said "Not calm. I gotta do something about this. I mean, ya look like ya in full on freak out mode."

"I am. But if I have to go back, I have to go back." Aurora said quietly, sighing in defeat, rubbing her wrists where he'd grabbed her just now, wincing a little. Why was he acting like this?

She didn't get him, not at all. But before she had any more time to ponder anything, she heard her father yelling out into the alley. Without thinking, she took off at a run, only to have Jon catch up to her, then stop her. "Okay, so we're outta there. Now what?"

She shrugged and said quietly, "I just wait until he cools off for a few hours. Then I go back and go with him. If I don't, he'll make this harder than it has to be, and my mama's been hurt enough."

"And so have you. I'm not lettin ya." Jon insisted stubbornly, as he stood looking at her with crossed arms. Aurora looked at him, pursing her lips as she said quietly, "There's not much you can do about it, Jonathan. Why's this matter so much to you, honestly?"

"I.. I don't know, god damn it. I just know ya cannot go back there."

"You have no sort of solid answer?"

"Nope."

"Jonathan, this is sweet of you, but trust me. My dad is a prick, he's a son of a bitch, and he will make sure he hurts you and.."

"And what? I get hurt all the time, Rory."

"I don't want anyone getting hurt because of me, got it?" Aurora commanded, holding his gaze, her hand on her hip expectantly.

"Sassy."

"Jonathan, damn it. I'm tellin you. Do not get in this. For one, you barely know me, and for another thing, I ain't worth it."

"How do ya know that?" Jon asked as he stared at her intently, curious. All this time, she'd insisted he was worth it. What made her any less worth a risk?

Why'd he even give a damn? She was right, they barely knew one another. And any time they were around one another, they wound up fighting or angry with one another.

Then there were those moments when he just thought she got him. She knew when to back the fuck off, when to push him..

And he knew the same about her.

"Well?"

"Well what, Rory?"

"What are you lookin at me like that for? Again. I don't get why you keep lookin at me that way, Jonathan."

He leaned in and pressed her against a nearby brick wall, and put his hand on her cheek, conquered her lips in a deep kiss. He smirked and snickered a little when her eyes popped wide open and she stared at him, gaping as if she were confused.

Shrugging, he said "Thought that'd shut ya up."

"Okay, so like you said.. I'm away from there for now.. What the hell am I gonna do? I can't just hide out, hope he fuckin leaves, Jonathan."

"Come with me." Jon grabbed her hand, started to run, practically dragging her, not really thinking at this point, more or less just trying to ensure that she did not leave him under any circumstances. Especially not after she'd just kissed back.

"Why'd you kiss me, Jonathan?"

"I told ya. To shut ya up." Jon insisted as he looked at her, keeping a straight face. Aurora looked at him uncertainly, and then said quietly, "Oh."

He smirked a little, then said "Why?"

"I just.. Nevermind, look, I have to go back now, or he'll kill me, and you if he sees you out here with me."

"Fuck him."

"Jonathan.."

He looked at her and then said quietly, "You're really scared of him, aren't ya?"

"Fucking petrified. I hate to say it, but I'm completely fuckin petrified."

"Let me walk ya back?" Jon asked as he looked at her.

"Please?" Aurora asked quietly as she bit her lower lip, let him start leading her back up the alleyway. Once they got to the apartment building, her mother met her on the fire escape and said quietly, "He's gone. Your grandpa chased him off, told him you weren't gonna go back with him."

Aurora looked at Jon and then smiled a little, then said quietly, "Mama, this is Jonathan Good. He lives in the apartment beside ours."

Fiona studied the teenager carefully, and biting her lip, she smiled a little then said "So you're the one she grabbed the orange juice and muffin for. I figured it was a boy. I'm Fiona, Rora's mama."

Jon studied her, not sure how to deal with the parents thing. No girl ever just introduced him to the parents, he wasn't used to it. "Hi." before turning to Aurora and muttering "I'll, umm, see ya at the bus stop tomorrow?"

"Yeah." Aurora said quietly, and spontaneously, cautiously stood on tiptoe to hug him. She turned to her mother and then said "So he's not gonna make me leave, mama?"

"No, baby girl. Everything's okay, for now. Nice to meet your friend finally. Let's go inside, I can get some ice on your eye. I hit him for that, by the way."

"Go mama!"

"Haha, yeah, I have a little fire left in me, baby girl." Fiona said as she watched the teenage boy disappear up his fire escape quietly.

She'd heard he was a bad kid, but she was going to make up her own mind about him.

Jon lie on his bed, thinking about the kiss, wondering what it meant, especially with her kissing back like she had. He growled at himself and rolled over, tried to get some sleep.

At least she didn't have to leave this time. Now, all he had to do was figure out what the hell he did feel, and what the hell he should do about it.

Because frankly, after tonight, he was confused.


	9. The Start Of Something, Maybe - 3

(Chapter Three, Pt Five)

Aurora heard knocking on her window. Sitting up, she stretched, yawned. It occurred to her that it was still dark out, and she growled to herself, wondering what the hell was going on. She stood and walked to the window, raising a brow when Jonathan stood there, shuffling his feet, looking torn between anger at himself for even being there, and confusion, like he didn't know what he was doing there exactly.

But the moon illuminated a new bruise, and she groaned, and quietly slid the window open, held out her hand and said quietly, "Shhh. My mama's sleepin. I'll go get you some ice to put on your face." He shook his head and then held a finger to his lips and whispered, "Can I talk to ya?"

"Jonathan?"

"Shut it, let me say this, god damn it." Jon said as he looked at her, his eyes moving over her body slowly before meeting her eyes again, as he raked his hands through his hair. " I..."

"If it's about the kiss, it's okay, Jonathan, I get it. Shhh. Let me go. I need to get you some ice." Aurora said as he shook his head no and then said "No, it.. It is about the kiss, but it's not just about it. It's about somethin else too.. Somethin that makes me so fuckin mad. I didn't want it to happen."

"What?" Aurora asked, her hand going to her dark hair, tangling in it as she stared up at him in confusion. "You okay? Did you take too hard a hit? I wish you'd stop tryin to fight all your mama's no good bastard boyfriends. I.. forget it." Aurora said quietly as she averted her eyes so he couldn't see the way they looked right now, full of worry and fear that one day, he'd stand up and play the bad ass one too many times and wind up with his ass in a sling.

"No, what were ya gonna say?" he asked her as he studied her intently. She shook her head and went to go and grab a rag, some ice and came back, sitting on a chair in front of him, holding the ice filled rag to his cheek gingerly as she winced and bit her lip. "I was gonna say, I was worried when I heard the fightin start over there. About you."

Jon looked at her, blinking. "Why?"

Aurora shrugged and then said "Because.. I don't know why, okay? What were you so damn set on wakin me up to tell me?"

He studied her a minute and muttered, "I fuckin like ya. And it fuckin irritates me, because I can't ... I'm not."

Aurora looked at him and blinked, her turn to be shocked now. She leaned in and kissed his cheek and then said quietly, "You are not some bad guy. Everyone has good in them."

"Not me, Rory."

"Jonathan, don't start that again." Aurora said quietly, as she looked at him, her hand on her hip. "I know how you are. And it's not gonna bother me, change my mind. Because.."

He looked at her, waiting.

"I.. I sorta feel the same way, but it scares me, because I haven't before." Aurora said quietly as she looked down at her hands, backing up a little bit, unsure of what was about to happen next, her heart racing because he wasn't even supposed to be sitting here, in her room, on her bed, but he was.

And the close call she'd had earlier. Now she knew why she'd fought so hard to stay, why it mattered so much to stay. And it scared the living hell out of her. It really did.

"What do ya mean?" he asked, confused as he looked at her.

"I just never really let people get to me." Aurora said quietly, sitting down next to him, keeping a little distance between them, wondering how all this worked, who made what move and when.

Jon moved closer and put his arm around her cautiously as he said quietly, "Same."

They sat there quietly for a little while and then he said "I'm gonna go back to my moms, before she finds out I'm gone, has a fuckin fit." before leaning in to kiss her, as he had earlier in the alley.

Aurora kissed back, her tongue slipping past his lips as he growled a little and pulled her closer and muttered, "I'll wait on ya tomorrow morning."

"Okay." Aurora said as she smiled at him, watched him climb out her window, letting her heart rate return to normal. She flopped back onto her bed, let her mind wrap around every single thing that'd happened in one day.

And tomorrow, she had no clue how anything would work out. Or any day beyond that, and that scared her.

( next morning)

Aurora heard him climbing into her window, and she bit her lip as he walked up behind her in the mirror, smirking. "Yeah.. I thought you said the bus stop?" she asked as she turned and looked up at him, smiled and yawned a little bit, still sleepy.

"Figured I'd meet ya here." Jon said with a smirk as he messed up her hair, earning him a growl from her. "Not cool. But it's sweet you do this. And you say you're not a good guy."

"Cause I'm not. I'm an asshole, Rory." Jon said as he studied her, wary, not sure of how to even attempt what he wanted to, with her, not sure if he'd be any good as somebody's boyfriend.

"And? I don't want a guy who pretends to be something he's not, Jonathan."

"Call me Jon."

"Okay, fine. Jon." Aurora said as she slicked on her lipgloss and studied him a moment before asking, "So.. do you do that fighting thing tonight?"

"Wrestling training you mean?" Jon asked, hiding a snicker as she stuck her tongue out and said "It's fightin."

"No it's a lot different. But yeah, I am.. Why, are ya gonna do that dancin thing again tonight?"

"Yeah.. But I thought I might come down and watch you.. Just to see what this wrestling stuff looks like... If you don't mind?"

"Nah. I don't mind." Jon said as he smirked, then walked to her window, waiting on her. "Ya ready?"

"yeah. Let's go." Aurora said quietly, grabbing her bags. They walked down towards the bus stop and from her grandfather's apartment, the man scowled as he muttered, "She's gonna make a fucking mess of her life too, just like her mom did." as he shut the blinds, shook his head, tried to figure out how to keep that very thing from happening to his granddaughter.


	10. Us Against The World - 1

(Chapter Four)

"Explain to me why we're out on the balcony so you can watch tv again?" Aurora asked as she shivered, rubbed her arms to keep warm before Jon thrust his jacket to her. They'd just gotten back from the gym, and she had to admit, he just looked so happy when he was in that ring, it looked like he really came alive.

"Because I can't pick up ECW inside, and I'm not gonna miss it." Jon explained as he handed her a jacket and said with a smirk, "Ya cold?"

"Little bit, yes." Aurora said as she studied him intently, and then let her gaze fall to the screen, immediately hiding her face when she saw someone take a barbed wire chair to the face before looking up at him and asking, "You want to do this?"

Jon snickered and nodded, then rubbed her arms lightly as he pointed out, "It's not that bad, Rory."

"Jon.. They're bleeding." Aurora said as she looked up at him, biting her lip. She sat quietly, studying him a minute before he leaned in and said "And I'll be fine. Ya don't have to worry about me all the time."

" Jon.. Just nevermind." Aurora said as she shifted closer to where he sat, putting her legs over his lap as she stared at the screen, watching the fights. She snuggled against him and hid her face when the blood and the violence got to be too much, and she was picturing it being him in there, in that ring, doing that.

"Weak stomach?" Jon asked as he looked down at her, smirked. He had always planned to do this, that wasn't going to change just because she was in his life.

"Little bit, yes.. I think it's the fact that I'm seeing you doing all that though that's the worst." Aurora muttered quietly as she bit her thumb nail and then said "But you're good at fightin."

Jon smirked. "And ya not so bad at dancin." he said as he shuffled her closer, arranged her in his lap, and then propped his chin on her shoulder. The show ended and he looked down at her, found her asleep. A smirk filled his face as he poked her until she woke up.

Then he heard her grandpa shouting up at them from the alley, and he bit his lip, to keep from shouting back. He knew her grandpa didn't particularly like him, the man never had. And now, with him trying to get close to Aurora, he had to figure that was getting a lot worse.

Aurora's head shot up and she rubbed her eyes, then blushed when she realized her grandpa was standing below them in the alley, looking up.

"Does your ma know you're up there with that kid?"

"Yes sir." Aurora said as she looked at Jon and reluctantly moved from his lap, while wondering what her grandfather's problem with Jonathan was.

"I think you need to get inside, girl. It's cold out, and too damn late for you to be out alone with a boy."

"Grandpa, it's only 9 30."

"And ya got school. Get inside girl." her grandpa commanded as he glared up at Jon. Aurora glared down at him and then said quietly, "I'm gonna go so he doesn't make a scene. But good night. And if your mama brings work home tonight, Jon.. Just come to my window."

"Rory, I'll be fine. He's right, it's cold." Jon said as he pulled her in by placing his hands on the back of her neck, and kissed her.

The throat clearing in the alley below had them both tense, but not so tense that they didn't actually enjoy the kiss. Aurora said with a smile, "I'll come to the gym tomorrow, watch you again. I had fun tonight."

"But ya can't stomach the blood." Jon said as he looked at her, stifling a laugh.

"Well, you hate my music, so we're even." Aurora said as she stole one more kiss and hurried across to her fire escape and then into her window. About ten minutes later, the door to her mother's apartment was knocked on and she opened it.

Her grandfather stood in the hallway, and he stepped in, said curtly, "You need to leave that little no good bastard alone, Aurora. I saw your mom throw away her life, not gonna watch you throw yours away. He's trash."

"Grandpa, I'll make up my own mind."

"Listen to me, girl. This is my building. What I say goes."

"You are not the supreme ruler of all, sir. I'm gonna keep seein him, because he makes me happy."

"And that's what your mom said too, then she ran off, got married and had you. Now you two are back here because I was right. I'm not gonna watch the cycle repeat itself."

"It's not your business. Didn't you like, cut me out of your life because mama didn't give me up? So tell me, sir, why am I going to obey your command now, when you didn't even want me to be born to begin with?"

"That's not your business, girl. And if you pop off at me again, I'm gonna smack you with my belt. She was too lenient with you."

Aurora shut the door firmly, then stood, biting her lip. Everyone kept telling her he wasn't a good guy, that he'd ultimately hurt her. She was getting a little sick of hearing it. But she knew he had a temper, she knew he wasn't a good guy, but she couldn't help but love him, just as he was.

Why couldn't anyone see that?


	11. Us Against The World -2

(Chapter Four Part One)

They walked into the school together, Aurora wearing his jacket, laughing. Right away, she felt the stares, heard the whispering, and she stiffened. She knew they were all whispering about them being together, or at least, given the reactions that everyone else had about Jonathan, that's what she figured they were whispering about.

She glared when a senior named Cadence walked over and then asked in a mocking sweet tone, " I heard you two live right next door to one another.. Tell me, has he fucked you yet? Because he's probably only after you to fuck you. I mean.. That's his reputation. Girls are nothing to him."

Jon growled at her, clenching his fists as he fixed his eyes on her before stating calmly, "Ignore her, Rora. She's just pissed because I wouldn't fuck her, if she were the last bitch on this whole god damn planet."

Aurora looked back and forth between them, and then said quiely, "Am I missin something?"

Cadence giggled and walked off down the hallway, confident that she'd started ripping the two apart, her job was done.

"What the fuck was that about?" Aurora asked pointedly, not liking the feeling she was getting right now. She glared and Jon said quietly, "She came on to me once, I told her that I had standards, and I didn't wanna catch an STD." as he looked at Aurora, then said with a quiet voice, "Ya gonna hear a lot about me. If ya can't handle it, fuckin leave me alone." before he started to walk away. Aurora grabbed his hand and said "Oh hell no you don't get to do that. Look, I'm not gonna believe everything I hear. If I did? I wouldn't be here right now, because the dog shooting rumor? That was sort of scary."

Jon looked at her and said quietly, "It wasn't a rumor."

She studied him intently, and blinked, as she said quietly, "Oh." and tried to get her head around that. It scared her, yet she still didn't want to just turn and run. And this scared her to death. Whatever she was feeling for him was so strong that she was willing to just dismiss all the stuff she heard.

But then again, she wasn't a saint. She'd done quite a few bad things herself, in all honesty. And she figured that maybe she should just give him a chance.

After all, she'd always been told that everything had two sides. And he had saved her every single time she'd needed it. Even when she hadn't been willing to just let him save her.

"Let's get to class." Jon said as he slid his arm around her, pulling close to him. They walked to class, and took their seats, and his hand found her leg beneath the desk, as he smirked and winked at her. She blushed and put her hand on top of his, as she leaned in and said quietly, " Maybe I won't fall asleep."

"I won't let ya." Jon said with a wink as he leaned back in, let his tongue run slowly over the outer edge of her ear. She blushed a deep red and then said quickly, "Hey.. Stop that."

"What?" he asked, pretending innocence.

The teacher came in and started the video for the day, and a note landed on her desk. She unfolded it, and read it, rolling her eyes as she saw that someone else was trying to come between them, yet again. She glared and biting her lip answered the letter, then showed Jonathan what it said.

Jon growled to himself, made a mental note to find this guy after class, show him who Aurora belonged to, put an end to all of this with other guys coming between them right now. Because he was not about to lose her for some other fuck.

She was his now, she was going to stay with him.

By lunch, they'd both realized that it seemed like the world was against them and that if they didn't do something, they'd wind up walking away from one another.

But when they got back to the apartment buildings that afternoon, and her grandfather cornered Jonathan, Aurora realized that this was not going to be easy. But she reminded herself that nothing worth having is ever easy to keep. And she wanted him, she had to be with him. Somehow, she knew that this was it for her, what they had was too powerful to just walk away from.

Her grandfather pulled her aside and then said calmly, "If you keep seeing him, girl, I'm going to be forced to take action. I'm not watching you get knocked up and having to raise some little brat for you."

"If that did happen, you'd be the last person I'd ever ask for help, so relax." Aurora said calmly as she looked at him and then continued, "Nothing you can say or do is going to make me walk away. So you might as well get over it."

Her grandfather smirked and said quietly, "We'll see about that, little girl." before walking off down the hallway, giving Jonathan one last glare.

Jon groaned to himself. He'd heard the whole conversation, and he was not only furious, he was also a little more afraid than he'd ever really been before.

He hugged her and kissed her forehead and said "Relax. That old bastard can't do anything."

But neither of them realized just how wrong they were about to be proven, or just how hard that it was about to get for them to be together and be happy.


	12. Us Against The World -3

(Chapter Four Part Two)

Her mother burst into her room and she looked up, brow raised. "Why is your grandfather so worried about you and that boy next door. Is there somethin' you need to tell me, Rora?"

"No mama.. Granfather's just.. He's treating Jon like crap, and he barely knows him." Aurora started, wondering what set her mother off. Her mother sat down, looked at her a moment and then dropped her gaze to her hands before saying, "Don't make a mistake like me, cherie."

"Mama, don't.. Please, you are the only one who's not completely against him. He's not a good guy, but he's not a bad guy either."

"Rora.. Some of the women down at the hospital said he shot his ex girlfriend's dog." Fiona studied her daughter carefully, noting that Aurora didn't seem shocked, which frankly, worried her.

"Mama.. You were the one who told me to trust my gut. And now, when I am, when I know this is what I want, that I want to be around him, that I like him, you're gonna question it?"

"I'm your mama."

"And? Look, mama, like I said. He's NOT the guy everyone paints him to be. And I'm not going to sit here and listen to this. I'm not going to sit here and hear you give me reasons that I shouldn't do what I want to do." Aurora said calmly, as she sighed and added quickly, "I'm sorry.. It's just.."

"I know, darlin.. But you're so young, and I've heard so much about this kid.. I'm just not sure how I feel about you with him, to be perfectly honest."

"Mama."

"Rora, listen to me. Just don't get so caught up in this boy that you forget who you are, that you are your own person. That's all I'm sayin. I'm not gonna stop you from seeing him, because look how that went for me when my daddy did it to me. But I do want you to promise me that if he ever shows you anything other than what you deserve, then you walk away. And don't go getting serious with him. Finish school. Live life."

"I promise." Aurora said quietly, though she knew deep down, if push came to shove, she just wasn't giving him up, despite any and all warnings. No matter what.

Because everyone else in his life had done that to him, and she wasn't going to continue the pattern. She wanted him, faults, flaws, problems and all.

Her mother walked out of the room and she waited a few moments, then climbed out her window, and made it across to his, knocking gently.

He opened the window and rubbing his eyes helped her into his room.

"Ya okay?"

"I had to see you."

He smirked, pulled her body against his, his hand going to her cheek. "Oh really.. Did ya now?"

"Mhmm."

"So, guessing the old man went to your mama, she gave ya a lecture about me?" Jon asked, his stomach churning. Truthfully, he'd heard the entire thing, the walls in this damn building were so fucking thin that he couldn't help but hear. Had she changed her mind though?

He found himself hoping she hadn't. But fearing she had.

"Mhmm. But I wanted to tell you, it's not gonna change a damn thing. It's not gonna make me want you any less. I'm not going to leave you, I pro-"

His finger went to her lip and he shook his head no. "Don't promise shit, Rory, that's when everything fucks itself up, and it can't be unfucked."

Aurora sighed and rested her head against his firm chest, biting her lip. She knew this might not be easy, and probably not one of her smarter moves, but she didn't want to lose him. It was almost like a desperation. "Just hold me?"

Jon looked down at her and then shrugged, before sitting on the edge of his bed, pulling her into his lap, kissing her forehead. "Ya know.. Everyone probably thinks you're stupid, that ya got a death wish, Rory."

"Jon, I don't care about everyone else. I care about you.. About this, and about us." Aurora said as she pouted, when he made her look at him.

"I know, but I ain't a real good guy, Rory. And ya gonna see that. And then youre gonna be gone too. Just like everyone else."

"Jon." Aurora said quietly, her face taking on a sad and hurt look as she raked her hand through her hair, then leaned in and kissed him cautiously. "I'm not going anywhere. Even if something does happen, I will always find my way back to you. I promise." she said quietly, as she placed her hand on his chest, felt his heart beating beneath her fingers.

He put his hand over hers, and then managed a smile, as he said quietly, "Just don't expect me to be some nice guy, cause I'm not gonna. I'm an asshole, and nothin's gonna ever change that."

"I actually like you better as an asshole." Aurora said quietly, as she cuddled up against him, letting her nose fill with his cologne, eventually almost falling asleep.

Jon poked her awake and with a few more kisses, he got her to go back to her room, her apartment, because the last thing they needed was for an adult to catch them, and say something, and her to have to leave, or something equally fucked up.

He stood on his fire escape, hand in his pocket, other hand holding a cigarette, as he looked up at the moon. For the first time in a long time, he had no idea what would happen next, or just how much she meant what she said. Or if he was only setting himself for a heartbreak in the long run.


	13. On Borrowed Time - 1

(Chapter Four Part Three)

Aurora walked into the fitness center, and before she could do anything, she was yanked back into a darkened hallway. Jon chuckled as she almost screamed, before leaning in, kissing her hungrily and muttering, "Would ya relax? It's me, Rory."

She lightly hit him in the chest and hissed, "Asshole. You scared the livin hell outta me. I didn't know who grabbed me." as she pressed her head against his shoulder, her lips grazing his neck slowly as she looked up at him. "What the hell happened to you before school ended today, Jon?"

"I skipped a class, no big deal, Rory. I had to come here. Had a meetin with someone."

"Who?"

" An agent or something, a trainer. Wants to send me to training." Jon said quietly, as he looked at Aurora, waiting on a reaction. He hoped she'd be okay with it, this was his dream, after all, but he feared she'd get upset or angry with him or something.

"But.. You haven't even graduated, Jon." Aurora asked patiently, as she looked up at him, studying his eyes. He was acting like he was fine, but she realized that her reaction to his news was basically writing their ending, so to speak.

And damn it, she didn't want it to end. Not bitterly. And even now, the sense of desperation was sinking in. She had to do something to make him see that whatever he chose, she supported, she'd be fine with it, that they could be together, make this work out for them.

"Babe.. It's a once in a lifetime shot." Jon said casually, as he leaned in, pulled her against him, holding her there, as he said quietly, "Ya mad now?"

"No, Jon. I'm proud of you. But what does this mean, I mean.."

Jon kept quiet. He didn't know how to answer her, he wanted her to go after her own dream, not give it up to chase him all over the god damn country and be miserable and wind up hating him in the process.

Aurora also stayed quiet, because she somehow had the feeling that whatever they were, now had an expiration date stamped on it. Because she wasn't going to make him stay. But she knew it'd kill her to let him go.

"Shh.. We'll figure it out later. I mean it ain't like the man was really serious about wantin me to train right now, babe." Jon said quietly, as his hand roamed slowly down her side, he pulled her even closer and muttered quietly into her ear, "Did I ever tell ya how sexy ya are in that stuff ya wear to dance in?"

"Jon, stop it." Aurora giggled a little, shoving the sadness from her mind. He was right, no need in worrying about his being gone until the day came that he was. Because if that scout had seriously seen him, Aurora knew beyond a doubt that the man would be back. And Jon, most likely, would be gone.

Leaving Aurora here to make her own way in life. But she also knew she'd find him again when she'd done just that. For now, though, neither of them were thinking about that.

"Stop what, babe?"

"You know very well what, Jon." Aurora protested as she bit her lip, his hand wandering up her t shirt while his lips moved slowly from her lips to her neck, then lower. Her heart was beating a mile a second and she felt weak in the knees, but she didn't dare stop this, interrupt the moment. She just had this feeling that now, their days together were numbered.

Her hand went to his arms, smoothing over the muscles as she groaned and bit her lip, her lips shyly leaving his lips to trail slowly down his neck.

And just as they were about to go beyond the normal limit, the door opened and light from the hallway spilled into the vacant room they stood in. The two sprang apart and laughed as some guy walked away muttering. But Jon looked at her and said quietly, "Guess it's good he came in. Because it shouldn't happen like that, babe."

"True. But I wouldn't have minded.." she said as her voice trailed off and she stared into his eyes, biting her lip. Jon nodded then said with a smirk, "Oh really, now, babe." as his finger trailed up her half shirt, tracing the lacy design on the edge of her bra as it also touched bare skin.

He growled and then smirking continued, "Because, if ya don't mind.. Then there's always later." as he mentally kicked himself. He'd sworn he was not going to rush her into anything. Or himself for that matter. And he knew now that he'd most likely be leaving as soon as they graduated.

And he knew that if Aurora were ever going to be a dancer, then he'd be leaving alone. And he hated this. More than anything.

"Jon? Are you alright, darlin?" Aurora asked as she looked up at him. He nodded and kept his thoughts to himself. Fighting about it now would only make things worse later. And he wanted to have this now, this one good thing that was rare in a life full of otherwise bad things.

At least so he could say he did try.

He knew he was beyond bad for her, and he was a bastard, so he'd personally been surprised he hadn't fucked it up yet.


	14. On Borrowed Time-2

(Chapter Four Part Five)

She rolled her eyes as Lavont made his way over and nervously, she scanned the crowd in front of the bus stop for Jon. Where was he this morning? They'd had a good night last night, they hadn't fought or broken up like she'd feared, when he'd told her his good news. They'd sat out on the fire escape over half the night, talking about it, and making out, and then she'd went inside.

She kept waiting on the other shoe to drop, she was used to that happening, and the way the two of them fought, it could happen at any figured that with their combined luck being what it was, that when the time came, they'd be split apart by different paths taken in life. The thought had her scowling as she took a bite of her chocolate chip muffin, her mother's increased warnings about Jon ringing heavily in her ears.

She balled the paper up and tossed it at a garbage can, and waited.. if he didn't hurry, the bus would be here at any second. She bit her lip, wondering if she should go up the fire escape to his room, and she'd turned around to do so, when she felt his arms going around her from behind as Jon said quietly, "I hit the snooze button." in her ear.

"Lucky you. I can't do that, Mama gets pissy." Aurora said as she sighed and then asked, "Are you training today?"

"Nope.. The guy's got some thing.. But I'm gonna come watch ya dance.. Hell, maybe if ya nice, I'll even help ya do that lift. Since that pansy instructor can't."

"Funny, Jon. Real funny. Lucky you're so damn cute or I'd.." Aurora trailed off as she caught sight of his face and bit her lip, swearing. "What the fuck happened?"

"Nothin, damn. I'm fine." Jon lied as he looked at her then said "Ya cold?"

"Not really."

Two of the girls in their class strolled by, winked at him. He tried not to react, but Aurora saw them and then turned to look at him. Internally, he groaned.

"Just who in the hell were they?" she asked, her temper flaring as her hand went to her hip and she tilted her head to one side, looking up at him, waiting on an answer.

"Those are two girls I wouldn't piss on if they were on fire."

He held on tighter, looking down at her, waiting. She had this look about her lately, almost as if she were counting the days until something happened, or he fucked up.

"Go ahead, walk away." he said as he stepped back, his eyes going cold.

Aurora looked at him, her brow raised, her mouth turning up into a sort of smirk as she said "If I were going to do that, Jon.. Don't ya think I'd have done it a while back?"

"I dunno, Rory."

"You really have no faith in anyone, do ya?" Aurora asked, her stomach churning, her heart racing.. Was he really about to end it now? Her mind was in a panic, and the overwhelming urge she felt to grab him and hold onto him, beg him not to do this, if this was what he was intent on doing scared the living shit out of her.

She was only 18, too young to know what love was, according to her mother, her grandfather.. Yet, if she really thought about it, what did either of them know about really loving someone?

She just knew she loved him, she wouldn't and couldn't lose him like this. She backed away also, and then turned after letting out a small hurt sigh, genuinely confused.

Jon grabbed her wrist and said quietly, "I'm sorry, damn." as he turned her back around, facing him. For a minute there, he'd seen his entire life passing him by, and he'd realized that if he didn't do something now, she would walk away, hurt, thinking he'd never trust her.

He didn't fully trust anyone, but he was getting closer to fully trusting her. He couldn't lose that, this one good thing in a life full of shitty ones.

"C'mon.. we'll ditch today. It's senior ditch day anyway, only reason I was gonna go was to see ya, because I knew you were too damn nerdy to skip." Jon said as Aurora growled playfully, her heart rate slowing down, her stomach unclenching from the dozens of nervous knots that they'd been in for a while now, just waiting on him to end it with her, or be taken from her somehow.

"And just where the hell will we go if we ditch?"

"Didn't think that far ahead." Jon said as he practically dragged her through the alley. They climbed the fire escape to his room and he helped her in the window.

"We can just stay here." she muttered as she pressed against him, looked up at him, raking her hand through his hair, messing it up.

"Damn it."

"What?"

"Ya know I hate that shit, babe." Jon muttered as he leaned in and kissed her, then said calmly, "Sorry about that.. I'm just.."

"What?"

"When ya went to walk off, I freaked out.. I didn't hurt ya wrists or nothin, right?"

"I'm not made of glass. Besides, I'm glad you stopped me.. I was freaking out myself."

"Why?" he asked as he flopped down on his bed, pulling her down with him.

"Because, the end of school's gettin closer, and I know how important wrestling, this shot you might have is to you and... I'm afraid..."

Jon nodded and said "And so am I.. I mean ya might get into that art school... And you might go there, realize everyone back here was right, I'm not worth a damn."

"Don't say that, to me you're more than worth it.." Aurora muttered as she leaned over him, kissing his lips, trailing slowly down the side of his neck, smiling when she felt his hands grabbing her hips holding her in place, as he growled up at her.

"Am not."

"You are so, damn it." Aurora glared at him as she moved in even closer and then said "You're the only person I ever let get this close to me..."

"What's that mean?"

"This.. us.. I don't ever really let people get to me like you do." Aurora admitted, biting her lower lip as she looked at him. For now, they were alright... But the end of the year was getting closer and closer, and she was scared to death of the thought of this all being over, them going their seperate ways.


End file.
